Kill the Messenger
by Mekina
Summary: A series of one-shots all based around the song by Jack's Mannequin. Logan and Rogue father-daughter talk. ROMY. LORO comfort, and maybe some more.
1. Chapter 1

Alright this is a one-shot potentially more, but it's based loosely off the song by Jack's Mannequin of the same title. The first verse just made me thing of a nightmare Rogue might have and I thought it was the perfect moment for a Logan-Rogue Father-Daughter moment. I love these :) Also a bit of Loro going on too ;)

Disclaimer: Yeah, don't own X-men, don't own the song. Yep, that seems about right.

XxXxX

Kill the Messenger

Rogue screamed and bolted up. She had that nightmare again. It was the worst thing and it terrified her that her own mind had concocted it.

She was trapped. She was trapped on the moon, which as crazy as it seems, was not the truly scary part. The X-men, HER X-men, the only family she had ever had, gave up on her.

In the dream she had once again lost control of her powers. All of them. Except this time there was no control, and instead of fighting for and with her, Wolverine himself had sentenced her to solitary confinement, and nobody argued. Nobody fought his decision, they all just… agreed.

Rogue curled into a ball in her bed, trying to fight the tears in her eyes. She remembered watching her friends and only people she'd ever considered family. She remembered watching them from the moon, how happy they'd been. Kitty got a new roommate, Logan wasn't constantly worrying about her, and nobody missed her.

The doorknob to her room turned quietly and slowly. Rogue quickly tried to compose herself, failing miserably.

"Stripes, you okay?"

"Ah'm… Ah'm…" Rogue had problems trying to speak through the tears.

"Hey kid, lets go to the kitchen. Wouldn't want half-pint to worry." Rogue slid out of bed, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. She knew that she couldn't say no to him, but she also knew she didn't want to. She needed someone to tell her she was wrong, that she belonged, that they wouldn't send her to the moon.

The two walked down the hall in silence, Rogue finally getting control of the tears and wiping them away. Logan was periodically glancing at his surrogate daughter, making sure she was going to be okay, but still worried. When they reached the kitchen, Logan pulled out a beer for himself and poured a glass of milk for Rogue.

"Alright kid, what's up?" Logan leaned on the counter across from where Rogue was sitting. Her eyes were still puffy and bloodshot, and her voice was still thick from sleep and tears.

"Ah had a nightmare." She explained the nightmare to him, leaving nothing out. She new if she did he would know. He always seemed to know. Logan listened in silence, grunting every once in a while, but other than that only squinting his eyebrows every so often. After Rogue finished the older man stared at her for a minute while Rogue stared at her hands.

"Alright Stripes, first things first. The moon?" Logan looked at her with one eyebrow raised. Rogue let out a small giggle, only marred by the small hiccup in the middle. "Second, Stripes, you know I could never do that to ya. Even if you did go all crazy psycho with your powers, Chuck would find a way to stop you."

Rogue rolled her eyes. Logan wasn't one to sugar coat things, and it was times like these she wished he did a little. Not that she was complaining. "Logan, Ah'm just scared that Ah might hurt someone, and then ya'll will hate me!"

Logan shook his head. "Listen Stripes, I'm not gonna lie to ya. You've got a lot of people who care about ya, but you aren't exactly the most welcoming. Between you and me, I think even Kitty feels a little left out when you don't talk to her. You've got me, Kitty, Kurt, 'Ro, Chuck, and Hank who are all fightin' for ya, but you've got to let us in. Hey, even the new mutants want at least some acknowledgement from you every once in a while. You've got to remember, darlin', you're not alone, but the more you act like it the more people are going to treat you like it."

"You're one to talk!" Rogue glared. She wasn't angry, just frustrated because she knew he was right. "Mr. Lone wolf or whatever. How many times have you ditched us for weeks at a time?"

"Don't Kill the Messenger Kid. I'm not telling you I'm any better at it. Heck, I'm still getting used to the idea of 'Ro ever putting up with my crap." This received another giggle from Rogue. The big wolf man had finally gotten the guts to ask the weather goddess out and they were getting along swimmingly since then. Turns out that Logan wanted to stay on her good side, so he didn't try to cause unnecessary problems. "It takes some work, kid. How about I make you a deal? You talk to Kitty more. Tell her about the dream, hang out with half-pint, maybe even let her take you shopping," Rogue gagged. "And I'll take 'Ro on some real dates, get out of the house, and I promise not to leave any time soon without direct permission from you. Deal?"

Rogue smiled. She knew that when the time came it would be hard to hold up his end of the bargain, but she knew he would try. "Do Ah HAVE tah let her take me shopping?"

"Nah, but you have to get out of this mansion and do something fun with her. Maybe take Kurt and a couple of the younger ones."

"Alright," Rogue agreed, sticking her hand out to the older man. "Ya have a deal, old man."

Logan took her hand a shook it. He walked around the bar in the kitchen and gave Rogue a side hug. "Listen kid, ya know I'm always here for ya. Any more nightmares and you just tell them if they hurt you I'll rip them to shreds. I'm sure Chuck will find a way to get me in there." Logan winked. Rogue smiled a full blown smile, a rare occurrence. The two sat and talked for a while longer, laughing at how the training was going with the younger kids as well as how ironically funny Scott and Jean's relationship was. It didn't take long until Rogue's eyes started to droop a little and Logan walked her back to the room she shared with Kitty.

The next day was a Saturday and while there was training in the morning, Logan made it a point when tucking Rogue into bed to unplug their alarm clock. The two girls could use the extra bit of sleep for once. Smiling, Logan crouched down and made sure Rogue was fully under the covers. Before he got up, he placed a small fatherly kiss on her head, her hair protecting him, not that he believed she could do him much harm in this state. He crept out of the room silently, sneaking back into the room he shared with his wife.

"Logan," the woman yawned. "Where did you go?"

Logan crawled into bed, wrapping his arm around the woman he cared about. "Rogue had a nightmare. You know, it makes me think that being a real dad might not be such a bad thing. Hell, half-pint and Stripes practically make it easy."

"Let's just sleep for now. You'll come to your senses in the morning. Tomorrow is Saturday. All the kids are home for the whole day. You'll change your mind." Ororo smiled as she curled into Logan, feeling his chuckle rumble through his chest. Tomorrow was another day.


	2. Chapter 2

Kill the Messenger #2

It's not so easy, caving in

I walked by your apartment twice today

While you were gone at work

And all the colors got so down

It's not as cold out here

But come quick, I am losing feeling

Remy sat in the tree outside Rogue's window. He had joined the X-men not a few months back. He had assumed that with his charm he would become the life of the party, and he was right. Unfortunately, this brought him no closed to the woman who had finally caught his attention.

Remy didn't do relationships. He only did one-night stands. Rogue though, she was special. He knew that she had some kind of feelings for him, but she was scared.

So was he.

No one had ever made him feel the way she did. Remy was honest with himself. He knew that he was a sex-driven scumbag. He knew that he didn't even deserve this life. But she had this fight in her, she wanted something more, and Remy wanted to feel the same way. Rogue made him want to believe that there was good in people. Even him.

"It's the middle of wintah, Swamp rat! What the hell are yah doing out there?" Rogue stuck her head out of the sliding door. She was right, it was winter, but said swamp rat didn't want to admit the craziness of the situation.

"No cold could pierce this heart as long as the fire in your eyes sets his heart to flames." Rogue rolled her eyes. She had grown accustomed to his flirty banter and like most days, she ignored it. She knew he wouldn't stop, so she might as well just ignore it.

Remy lost a bit of his smile when he didn't even see a glint of happiness in her eyes. Maybe this whole thing was useless. Maybe he should just give up on her. Then again, when she leaned back inside, Remy saw through the glass that she was putting on her own thick coat and grabbing a blanket.

"Ah won't have yah freezing on mah watch, swamp rat," she said as she tossed him a blanket and climbed into the tree to sit by him. "What ARE yah doin' spyin' on me while Ah'm sleepin'?"

Remy shrugged. The truth wouldn't change anything and it's not like she would listen anyway. "Remy told yah, cher was just too tempting!" Remy stared at her, but the usual arrogance was missing. Instead, there was something in his eyes that spoke of defeat.

"Yah don't know when tah quit, do ya? When will ya get it through that thick skull of yours that I'm not what ya want?"

"And whay d'ya say that, chére? You didn't happen tah lock into ol' Jeanie's powers recently, did'ya?"

Rogue laughed at this. It had become common knowledge that every once in a while Rogue's powers would act up and she would randomly have someone else's power for a day or two.

"Nah, the last one that popped up was Lance's. Ah was causing earthquakes on accident through out the whole mansion! Mostly it just made people not want tah piss me off, more than normal." Rogue was smiling. This kind of conversation was rare for the two, but not unwelcome. Remy was trying hard not to spook her, just so he could spend a few more minutes here with her.

"Rogue, you're a good kid, yah know that?" Remy knew he was starting to act on impulse, something that rarely ended well, but he couldn't stop himself.

Rogue turned to stare at him quizzically. "What are yah goin' on about now?"

"You're a good kid. You have hope despite what's happened to yah." At this, Rogue's face darkened a bit. The memories never stayed away for long, and Remy knw she was reliving some of them as they spoke. "The Wolvie protects yah because he knows yah got potential. Kurt an Chaton adore yah, and so do Ah."

"Remy…"

"Don't Kill the Messenger, Chere. I'm just tellin' yah the truth of it all. Yah never really gave ole Remy the chance ta show ya that this ain't just lust. It ain't shallow, yah got somethin' special about yah. Makes me want ta believe in sometin'."Remy knew he had probably just made the biggest mistake of his life. He knew that she wasn't really interested and even if she was she was too scared of hurting anyone to do anything about it.

"Remy, mah powers… no mattah what Ah'm always gonna have them, and there's always gonna be the chance that Ah hurt ya. Yah're a great guy, but Ah… Ah don't know what yah want from me. Ya gonna have some… issues." Remy stared at her. She wasn't saying no. It shocked him for a moment before he recovered.

"Chere, knock me out all ya want. I'm not goinin' anywhere." And just to prove his point, the Cajun leaned over, grabbing Rogue's head and pulling her into a kiss.

It lasted a few seconds before Remy was knocked out, and falling out of the tree. Rogue sat there for a second, sifting through the information in her head, before smiling down at the man. She climbed out of the tree and Wrapped Remy up in his blanket, and went back to her room. Remy would wake up soon, and now it was his job to decide what they were now.


	3. Chapter 3

This is the final chapter! This one is actually super sad, and it's kind of based around another story I'm working on, in which I'll probably recycle most of this scene.

Also, I haven't given up on my other story! I'm still working on it, but I've had this overwhelming desire to do some more serious works, and thus we have Kill the Messenger.

Kill the Messenger 3

I'm gonna send a little rain to pour down on you

Rain that makes the flowers bloom

Rain to leave you all alone

That keeps eyelashes falling

And wishes washed away

Logan stood, leaning against the tree line surrounding the edges of the mansion. He wasn't hiding, but then again, I guess you could say he was.

On the one hand there was the part of him that just needed some time alone, a part of him that knew he would go back into that room, the one that haunted his thoughts. He knew he would eventually go back, he just didn't need to yet. At least that's what he kept telling himself. He kept reminding himself that everything would be fine and that it wasn't like he was denying anything to himself. He wasn't hiding.

Unfortunately, there is only so long that you can lie to yourself before SOMEONE figures it out, most likely yourself. He knew that he was hiding. He was hiding from the gripping fear and the sullen faces. He was hiding from the unknown fate and the overwhelming emotion that reeked in the air and radiated off everyone, including himself. He knew that the longer he stayed away the longer he could avoid the truth, the same truth he would continually fight until he had no more left in him.

Logan was turned away from the mansion. He knew if anyone had been watching they would assume he was just doing his usual, brooding and probably mutilating some poor tree. Unfortunately, no one seemed to see what was really going on.

Logan, Wolverine, the scariest man on campus, was crying. It took Logan a moment to even realize what was happening, and by that time, it was too late. Tears poured from his eyes. Tears for everything that had happened, tears for all the people involved. Logan had been unaware that he even had the ability or body parts needed to cry, but apparently he did, and the dams had been opened.

The day, which had originally been only partly cloudy, got slightly darker as rain clouds moved across the sky. It started soft, but eventually let out into a soft, pouring rain. Logan paid little attention to it besides to note the fact that at least no one would see his tears. Eventually, the man dropped to his knees, not caring who saw this time.

She watched him from her spot not too far away. She knew he needed her, but she didn't know how she could help. You'd think that being with him for a couple years now she would know, but she didn't. He'd always been the stronger of the two. Not to say that she herself was weak, but only to say he was a much stronger safeguard for emotions.

She finally broke down and walked slowly closer to him. She knew that in this state he would either be prone to lash out or prone to give in. Going into a situation like this with no knowledge of the coming reaction made her move cautiously towards her target. It was hard to see if his senses were working properly. If they were, he would have had some indication she was here. She was almost ten feet away now, when his voice pierced through the rain, thicker and groggier than usual.

"Ro," he said through the tears. He had sensed her coming and he wasn't scared. In fact, the usually self-protective man knew he needed her. He needed this comfort. "Ro, help me."

Ororo raced to him immediately. She faced him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and letting him cry into her shoulder as he held her waist as tight as he could without hurting her. The weather witch was not fragile; in fact, she had once or twice even beaten Wolverine in combat, but now was a different scenario. Now, he showed just how much he really needed her.

Logan tried multiple times to speak, but his words were always cut off by the sobs breaking through his throat. Ororo stroked his back, letting a few tears of her own escape. She had let all of her tears escape much earlier, but she still had plenty to shed when provoked.

Rogue, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, Colossus and Gambit had gone on what appeared to be a simple recruitment mission for the Professor who was currently on the west coast at a conference in California. Unfortunately, it had been a set up by the MRD. In the fighting, Nightcrawler had been injured, and Gambit was captured. It had been a rough fight from there, Shadowcat playing the defense, attempting to protect her blue teammate, but Rogue and Colossus could only do so much. Finally, the fight had become too stressful, and Rogue latched onto a few of the psyches in her head out of protective instinct. She eventually fought their way out of the fray; Rogue taking out the numbers of MRD that had filled three blocks in all directions. At the end of the fight, Rogue and Colossus managed to get everyone onto the Blackbird, but on the way home, had collapsed, screaming. It took them an hour to get home after that, and the Professor had been brought home from California as soon as Colossus phoned in the situation to Storm, who was their mansion contact.

That was a week ago. Everyone was fine, except Rogue. Once again, the girl had managed to put herself into a coma. Her body had been weakened from the fight, and the Professor had only gotten darkness from her mind. The week had been spent trying different ways of getting her body to respond to treatments as well as the Professor trying to reach her in the darkness of her mind. Neither approach had any luck whatsoever. Everyone was starting to give up, and Logan had been holding onto his fears for much too long.

"Ro, what if she doesn't get through this? I won't burry her, I won't let her give up!" Logan had finally gotten the strength to speak, but his voice was shallow and gravelly. The two moved to sit next to a tree, Logan pulling his knees close to him and Ororo putting an arm around him, using the other to stroke his arm.

"Do you feel any better, Logan?" Ororo watched him, gauging his reaction. He sighed.

"I… I hate that I do feel better. I want to feel awful. I don't want her to have to feel this pain on her own. How can I feel better when she's still in that bed, broken and dying?" Logan hit his own leg with his fist, angry with himself.

"Logan, sometimes it takes the rain in al it's sadness to make the flowers grow. I find rain to be comforting, because I can be completely alone and sad, but I am not really alone. The rain is everyone's tears coming together to bring better days. Rogue is strong; I have yet to give up on her."

Ororo could still see the anguish in the man's eyes, and so she made a suggestion she knew he couldn't resist.

"Let's go inside, dry off, and get some rest. The heaven's know we both need it."

And that's what they did. Ororo and Logan let their eye's close, falling asleep to the still pouring rain. Nobody would be Killing the Messenger of bad news today, because there would be none. There was still hope.


End file.
